Information processing device, server device, and peripheral device management method

ABSTRACT

A user terminal  1,  which is communicably connected to a server device  2  via a network  9,  includes: an information acquisition unit  101  that acquires terminal information including a terminal ID of the user terminal  1,  and acquires peripheral device information including a device type and a serial number of a peripheral device  3  connected to the user terminal  1  via an interface  15  for peripheral device connection, which is different from a network interface  16  connected to the network  9;  and a transmission/reception unit  102  that transmits the terminal information and the peripheral device information to the server device  2.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. JP2010-064297, filed on Mar. 19,2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD

The present invention relates to management of a peripheral deviceconnected to an information processing device.

BACKGROUND

There is provided a technology for a system including peripheralequipment connected to a network, a server, and a personal computer (seeJapanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2002-108734). In thetechnology, when a resource is downloaded, two kinds of addresses, i.e.,an address such as a MAC address uniquely assigned to each equipment andan address such as an IP address that may be set by a user, arepreviously managed on the server along with the resource to bedownloaded, and the two kinds of addresses, i.e., the MAC address andthe network address, of the peripheral equipment on the network arecompared with information managed on the server on a regular basis, tothereby automatically determine movement and replacement of theperipheral equipment.

SUMMARY

There is a conventional technology in which a server device centrallymanages terminals by causing the terminal to be managed to use agentsoftware installed thereon to collect terminal information and an eventlog and to notify the server device thereof.

However, according to the conventional technology, the server device maymanage terminals (including devices such as a printer and a scanner)directly connected to a network allowing communications with the serverdevice, but may not manage peripheral devices that are connected to aninterface for peripheral device connection conforming to variousstandards such as a universal serial bus (USB), a small computer systeminterface (SCSI), and the Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers, Inc. (IEEE) without being directly connected to the network.

In view of the problem, an object of the present invention is to cause aserver device to also manage a peripheral device that is not connectedto a network allowing direct communications with the server device.

In order to achieve the object, the present invention adopts thefollowing means. That is, according to the present invention, there isprovided an information processing device, which is communicablyconnected to a server device via a network, including: a terminalinformation acquisition unit to acquire terminal information related tothe information processing device, the terminal information includinginformation that may identify the information processing device; aperipheral device information acquisition unit to acquire peripheraldevice information related to a peripheral device connected to theinformation processing device via an interface for peripheral deviceconnection, which is different from a communication interface connectedto the network, the peripheral device information including informationthat may identify the peripheral device; and a transmission unit totransmit the terminal information and the peripheral device informationto the server device.

The information processing device according to the present inventionallows the server device to manage the peripheral device by acquiringthe information on the information processing device side andtransmitting the information to the server device, the information alsoregarding the peripheral device that may not be directly managed by theserver device because of being connected to the interface for peripheraldevice connection, which is different from the interface (for example,wired or wireless LAN interface or WAN interface) connected to thenetwork through which communications are performed between the serverdevice and the information processing device. Note that examples of the“interface for peripheral device connection” used herein include aninterface for peripheral device connection conforming to variousstandards such as USB, SCSI, and IEEE.

Further, the information processing device according to the presentinvention may further include: a connection status detection unit todetect that the peripheral device has been connected to or disconnectedfrom the information processing device; and a connection informationacquisition unit to acquire connection information related to detectedconnection or disconnection, the connection information includingdate/time information regarding the connection or the disconnection. Theperipheral device information acquisition unit may acquire, in responseto the detection of the connection or the disconnection performed by theconnection status detection unit, the peripheral device informationrelated to the peripheral device regarding the connection or thedisconnection, and the transmission unit may transmit, in response tothe detection of the connection or the disconnection performed by theconnection status detection unit, the terminal information, theperipheral device information, and the connection information to theserver device.

According to the present invention, by detecting the connection or thedisconnection of the peripheral device to or from the informationprocessing device and transmitting the connection information regardingthe detection successively to the server device, a management databaseof the peripheral device managed by the server device may maintain thelatest state. Further, the connection information includes the date/timeinformation regarding the connection or the disconnection. Therefore,the dates/times at which the peripheral device is connected to anddisconnected from the information processing device may be recorded as ahistory.

Further, the present invention may be grasped as the server device thatmanages the information processing device as described above. That is,according to the present invention, there is provided a server device,including: a reception unit to receive terminal information includinginformation that may identify an information processing devicecommunicably connected to the server device via a network, the terminalinformation being transmitted from the information processing device,and peripheral device information including information that mayidentify a peripheral device connected to the information processingdevice via an interface for peripheral device connection, which isdifferent from a communication interface connected to the network; andan information accumulation unit to accumulate the terminal informationand the peripheral device information in association with theinformation that may identify the information processing device that isan information transmission source and the information that may identifythe peripheral device.

According to the server device of the present invention, even for theperipheral device that may not be managed directly from the serverdevice because of not being connected directly to the network allowingcommunications with respect thereto, it is possible for the serverdevice to manage the peripheral device by receiving the informationtransmitted from the information processing device and accumulating theinformation.

Further, according to the present invention, the reception unit mayfurther receive connection information including date/time informationregarding connection or disconnection of the peripheral device detectedby the information processing device, the connection information beingtransmitted from the information processing device, and the informationaccumulation unit may accumulate the connection information inassociation with the information that may identify the informationprocessing device regarding the connection or the disconnection and theinformation that may identify the peripheral device.

According to the present invention, by receiving the connectioninformation regarding the connection or the disconnection of theperipheral device to or from the information processing devicesuccessively from the information processing device, the managementdatabase of the peripheral device managed by the server device maymaintain the latest state. Further, the connection information includesthe date/time information regarding the connection or the disconnection.Therefore, the dates/times at which the peripheral device is connectedto and disconnected from the information processing device may berecorded as a history.

The server device according to the present invention may further includea movement detection unit to detect that the peripheral device has beenmoved by being disconnected from one information processing device andbeing connected to another information processing device, by way ofsearching the connection information accumulated by the informationaccumulation unit by using the information that may identify theperipheral device, to thereby extract a history of the connection andthe disconnection of the peripheral device to and from the informationprocessing device.

According to the present invention, by providing the movement detectionunit as described above, the administrator or the user mayinstantaneously grasp the movement of the peripheral device. Themovement detection unit may detect the movement of the peripheraldevice, for example, if the latest connection information regarding agiven peripheral device is the connection information indicating theconnection to the information processing device and if the connectioninformation indicating the connection to another information processingdevice in the past exists as the connection information regarding theperipheral device.

Further, according to the present invention, the reception unit mayfurther receive an activation state of the peripheral device connectedto the information processing device, the activation state beingtransmitted from the information processing device, and the serverdevice may further include: an information update unit to update theperipheral device information accumulated by the informationaccumulation unit based on the connection information received by thereception unit so as to enable judgment as to whether or not theperipheral device regarding the peripheral device information isconnected to the information processing device; and an unused peripheraldevice detection unit to detect a peripheral device that has not beenactivated and a peripheral device that is not connected to theinformation processing device by referencing the activation state andthe peripheral device information.

By detecting the unused peripheral device, the administrator mayinstantaneously grasp the peripheral device that is not currently used,may extract an idle asset, or may consider moving the peripheral devicethat is connected to a given information processing device but is notbeing used to another information processing device.

Further, the server device according to the present invention mayfurther include: an input reception unit to receive an input of aspecified date/time; and a peripheral device extraction unit to extracta peripheral device that was connected to any one of the informationprocessing devices at the specified date/time by extracting, from theconnection information accumulated by the information accumulation unit,connection information with a date/time regarding the connection beingat or before the specified date/time and a date/time regarding thedisconnection being at or after the specified date/time or beingunrecorded.

According to the present invention, by providing the peripheral deviceextraction unit as described above, the administrator may specify thepast date/time to check the connection status or the like between theperipheral device and the information processing device, which wasobtained at the specified date/time.

Further, according to the present invention, the reception unit mayfurther receive an event log of an event that has occurred on theinformation processing device, the event log being transmitted from theinformation processing device, the information accumulation unit mayfurther accumulate the event log in association with the informationthat may identify the information processing device regarding the eventand the information that may identify the peripheral device regardingthe event, and the server device may further include an event logextraction unit to search the event log accumulated by the informationaccumulation unit by using information that may identify a predeterminedperipheral device, to thereby extract the event log regarding thepredetermined peripheral device.

By performing such accumulation and extraction of the event log, even ifthe peripheral device has moved among a plurality of the informationprocessing devices, the administrator may track the event log of adesired peripheral device. Note that the event log extraction unit mayextract the event log regarding the information processing device bysearching the event log accumulated by the information accumulation unitby using information that may identify a predetermined informationprocessing device.

Further, the server device according to the present invention mayfurther include an estimation unit to estimate a cause for an occurrenceof the event by judging, if the movement detection unit has detectedthat the predetermined peripheral device has been moved by beingdisconnected from the one information processing device and beingconnected to the another information processing device, whether or notcontents of the event log regarding the predetermined peripheral devicewhich is extracted by the event log extraction unit are changed beforeand after the movement.

According to the present invention, by providing such estimation unit,it is possible to estimate the cause for the occurrence of the event bydiscriminating whether the occurrence of the event is ascribable to theperipheral device or ascribable to the connected information processingdevice in a case in which the event such as an error related to theperipheral device has occurred.

Further, according to the present invention, the reception unit mayfurther receive software information transmitted from the informationprocessing device, the software information including information onsoftware installed on the peripheral device connected to the informationprocessing device, and information on software related to the peripheraldevice, which is installed on the information processing device, and theserver device may further include: a correlation information retainingunit to retain correlation information for judging a correlation betweenthe software installed on the information processing device and thesoftware installed on the peripheral device; a correlation judgment unitto judge, by referencing the correlation information based on thesoftware information received by the reception unit, whether or not thesoftware installed on the information processing device and the softwareinstalled on the peripheral device have a predetermined correlation; anda request transmission unit to transmit, if it is judged that thesoftware installed on the information processing device and the softwareinstalled on the peripheral device do not have the predeterminedcorrelation, a software change request necessary to satisfy thepredetermined correlation to the information processing device.

According to the present invention, unlike the conventional softwareupdating simply maintains software in the latest state, a plurality ofitems of software, which need compatibility between a plurality ofdevices for a cooperation therebetween or the like, may maintain a statein which the correlation such as compatibility is kept. Further, thesoftware change request according to the present invention is issued forthe purpose of maintaining the correlation such as compatibility, andhence a request may be made for a change to the software of an olderversion in some cases instead of simply making a request for an upgradeof the software, or if the correlation is lost due to the update of thesoftware, a processing of inhibiting the request for the upgrade orother such processing may be performed. Note that with regard to theconcern about security that may be caused by a downgrade request orupdate inhibition, it is preferred that a separate measure be taken by amethod of avoiding a downgrade involved in the security update, a methodof avoiding the update inhibition, or other such method.

Further, the present invention may be grasped as the invention of amethod executed by a computer, the invention of a program, or theinvention of a computer-readable recording medium having such a programrecorded thereon. For example, according to the present invention, thereis provided a peripheral device management method, including: acquiring,by a computer communicably connected to a server device via a network,terminal information related to the computer, the terminal informationincluding information that may identify the computer; acquiring, by thecomputer, peripheral device information related to a peripheral deviceconnected to the computer via an interface for peripheral deviceconnection, which is different from a communication interface connectedto the network, the peripheral device information including informationthat may identify the peripheral device; and transmitting, by thecomputer, the terminal information and the peripheral device informationto the server device.

According to the present invention, it is possible to cause the serverdevice to also manage the peripheral device that is not connected to thenetwork allowing direct communications with the server device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an entire configuration of a peripheraldevice management system according to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating functional components of a userterminal and a server device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a terminal tableaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a peripheral devicetable according to the embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a use history tableaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a structure of an event log tableaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a connection informationtable according to the embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a consumable itemcharacteristic table according to the embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a use tendency tableaccording to the embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a structure of a softwarecorrespondence table according to the embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an information collectionprocessing according to the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a disconnection detectionprocessing according to the embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a movement judgmentprocessing for a peripheral device according to the embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an unused peripheraldevice judgment processing according to the embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a peripheral deviceconfiguration tracing processing according to the embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an event tracingprocessing according to the embodiment; and

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a consumable itemmanagement processing according to the embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, description is made of a peripheral device managementsystem 100 using an information processing device, a server device, amethod, and a program according to an embodiment of the presentinvention with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodimentdescribed below merely describes an example in which the presentinvention is implemented, and the present invention is not limited to aspecific configuration described below. When the present invention isimplemented, it is preferred that such a specific configuration as tocorrespond to an embodiment be employed appropriately.

<Configuration>

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an entire configuration of theperipheral device management system 100 according to this embodiment.The peripheral device management system 100 is a system in which a userterminal 1 and a server device 2 are connected to each other via anetwork 9, and peripheral devices 3 such as a printer 3 b, a scanner 3a, an external memory 3 c are connected to the user terminal 1 via aninterface 15 for peripheral device connection conforming to variousstandards such as USB, SCSI, and IEEE. Further, networks conforming tovarious standards such as various kinds of local area networks (LANs)including IEEE 802.3 and fiber-distributed data interface (FDDI) andvarious kinds of wide area networks (WANs) may be employed as thenetwork 9 through which communications are performed between the serverdevice 2 and the user terminal 1.

The user terminal 1 and the server device 2 are each a computerincluding: a central processing unit (CPU) 11, 21; a random accessmemory (RAM) 12, 22; a read only memory (ROM) 13, 23; an input/outputdevice 14, 24 such as a display, a mouse, and a keyboard; a networkinterface 16, 26; and an auxiliary storage device 19, 29, which areelectrically connected to one another. For example, an electricallyerasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solidstate drive (SSD) may be used as the auxiliary storage device 19.

Further, the user terminal 1 is the information processing device usedby a user, and specific examples thereof include a personal computer anda KIOSK terminal. The user terminal 1 includes the interface 15 forperipheral device connection which is used for connection to theperipheral device 3 as described above. Here, the interface 15 forperipheral device connection is a different interface from the networkinterface 16 connected to the network 9. The peripheral device 3connected to the interface 15 for peripheral device connection may notestablish direct connection to the server device 2 with whichcommunications are performed via the network 9.

The CPU 11 and 21 as a central processing unit process commands and dataexpanded in the RAM 12 and 22 or the like, to thereby control the RAM 12and 22, the auxiliary storage device 19 and 29, the input/output device14 and 24, and the like, respectively. The RAM 12 and 22 as a mainmemory device are controlled by the CPU 11 and 21, and has various kindsof commands and data written thereto and read therefrom, respectively.The auxiliary storage device 19 and 29 as a nonvolatile storage deviceare subjected to a write/read operation of information to be retained,respectively, even if mainly the user terminal 1 or the server device 2is powered off. Contents input through an input device are recorded inthe RAM 12 and 22, and processed by the CPU 11 and 21, respectively.

Stored respectively in the auxiliary storage device 19 and 29 are anoperating system (OS) of the user terminal 1 or the server device 2 tobe loaded in the RAM and 22, various kinds of programs for executingprocessings illustrated in flowcharts of FIG. 11 and the subsequentfigures, and various kinds of data used by the user terminal 1 or theserver device 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating functional components of the userterminal 1 and the server device 2 according this embodiment. By causingthe CPU 11 to interpret and execute the various kinds of programsexpanded in the RAM 12, the user terminal 1 according to this embodimentfunctions as the information processing device according to the presentinvention including an information acquisition unit 101, atransmission/reception unit 102, a connection status detection unit 103,a limit value calculation unit 104, a use tendency calculation unit 105,a threshold value calculation unit 106, a comparison unit 107, and anotification outputting unit 108. Each of those functional unitsexecutes a function corresponding to each means included in theinformation processing device according to the present invention.Further, this embodiment is described by taking an example in whichthose functions are each executed by the general-purpose CPU 11, but apart or an entirety of those functions may be implemented by one or aplurality of dedicated processors.

On a regular basis or when the connection status detection unit 103detects connection or disconnection of the peripheral device 3, theinformation acquisition unit 101 acquires various kinds of informationrelated to the user terminal 1 and the peripheral device 3 connected tothe user terminal 1, which include terminal information (terminal ID,related application information, driver information, and power state),event log information (event occurrence date/time, and message),peripheral device information (device type, serial number, firmwareinformation, power state, and use amount of a consumable item), andconnection detection information (including connection date/time anddisconnection date/time).

The acquired information is transmitted to the server device 2 by thetransmission/reception unit 102 described later, and also on the userterminal 1, accumulated in a database built on the auxiliary storagedevice 19. The user terminal 1 saves the acquired information to aperipheral device table, a use history table, an event log table, aconnection information table, a consumable item characteristic table, ause tendency table, and the like within the local database differentfrom a database on the server device 2. Note that the informationacquisition unit 101 accumulates the acquired use amount of theconsumable item on a consumable item basis, to thereby calculate acumulative use amount on a consumable item basis and saves thecumulative use amount to the peripheral device table retained by theuser terminal 1.

The transmission/reception unit 102 transmits various kinds ofinformation acquired by the information acquisition unit 101, whichinclude the terminal information, the peripheral device information, theevent log information, and connection information, to the server device2, and receives a software change request and the like transmitted fromthe server device 2.

The connection status detection unit 103 detects that the peripheraldevice 3 has been connected to or disconnected from the user terminal 1.Specifically, a notification of an event of connection or disconnectionof the peripheral device 3 which is sent from the OS or a driver of theuser terminal 1 is received, to thereby detect that the peripheraldevice 3 has been connected to or disconnected from the user terminal 1.Note that other detection methods may be employed, which include amethod in which the connection status detection unit 103 itself directlymonitors the interface 15 for peripheral device connection, to therebydetect that the peripheral device 3 has been connected to ordisconnected from the user terminal 1.

The limit value calculation unit 104 calculates a limit value of the useamount estimated for a consumable item based on the cumulative useamount of the consumable item obtained at an occurrence date/time of anevent regarding an event log including contents regarding the consumableitem. More specifically, the limit value calculation unit 104 decidesthe limit value from the cumulative use amount of the consumable itemobtained at the occurrence date/time of the event as it is, orcalculates an average of the cumulative use amount of the consumableitem obtained at the occurrence date/time of the event and one or aplurality of limit values calculated in the past, as a newly-estimatedlimit value of the use amount.

The use tendency calculation unit 105 divides the cumulative use amountby a use period of the consumable item, to thereby calculate aper-unit-time use amount of the consumable item as a use tendency of theconsumable item. More specifically, the use tendency calculation unit105 calculates the per-unit-time use amount of the consumable item byusing a time from the connection date/time included in the connectioninformation until the disconnection date/time included therein, or atime from the connection date/time to a present date/time as the useperiod of the consumable item.

The threshold value calculation unit 106 calculates a threshold valuefor judging a timing to output an exchange/replenishment promptnotification in comparison with the current cumulative use amount basedon the use tendency and the limit value of the consumable item. Morespecifically, the threshold value calculation unit 106 calculates thethreshold value by subtracting, from the limit value, a value obtainedby multiplying the per-unit-time use amount of the consumable item by aperiod required for exchange/replenishment of the consumable item.

The comparison unit 107 compares the cumulative use amount with thethreshold value on a regular basis or at a timing at which thecumulative use amount is updated. Then, if the cumulative use amountexceeds the threshold value as a result of the comparison performed bythe comparison unit 107, the notification outputting unit 108 outputsthe exchange/replenishment prompt notification for the consumable item.

Further, by causing the CPU 21 to interpret and execute the variouskinds of programs expanded in the RAM 22, the server device 2 accordingto this embodiment functions as the server device 2 including atransmission/reception unit 201, an information accumulation unit 202, amovement detection unit 203, an information update unit 204, an unusedperipheral device detection unit 205, a peripheral device extractionunit 206, an event log extraction unit 207, an estimation unit 208, acorrelation information retaining unit 209, a correlation judgment unit210, a request transmission unit 211, and an input reception unit 212.Each of those functional units executes a function corresponding to eachmeans included in the server device 2 according to the presentinvention. Further, this embodiment is described by taking an example inwhich those functions are each executed by the general-purpose CPU 21,but a part or an entirety of those functions may be realized by one or aplurality of dedicated processors.

The transmission/reception unit 201 receives the various kinds ofinformation transmitted from the user terminal 1, which include theterminal information (terminal ID, related application information,driver information, and power state), the event log information (eventoccurrence date/time and message), the peripheral device information(device type, serial number, firmware information, and power state), theconnection detection information (including connection date/time anddisconnection date/time).

The information accumulation unit 202 accumulates the various kinds ofinformation received by the transmission/reception unit 201, whichinclude the terminal information, the peripheral device information, theevent log information, and the connection information, in associationwith the terminal ID of the user terminal 1 and the serial number of theperipheral device 3. Here, the information accumulation unit 202accumulates the received various kinds of information in various kindsof tables including the connection information table described laterbased on classification thereof.

The movement detection unit 203 searches the connection informationtable by using the serial number of the peripheral device 3, to therebyextract a history of connection and disconnection of the peripheraldevice 3, and detect that the peripheral device 3 has been disconnectedfrom one user terminal and has moved to another user terminal by beingconnected thereto. Further, the information update unit 204 updatescontents of the peripheral device table based on the connectioninformation received by the transmission/reception unit 201.

By referencing the power state of the terminal table and the peripheraldevice table and the connection date/time and the disconnectiondate/time, the unused peripheral device detection unit 205 detects theinactive peripheral device 3 and the peripheral device 3 that is notconnected to the user terminal 1. Further, the input reception unit 212receives an input of a specified date/time from an administrator or theuser via the input/output device 14 or 24.

The peripheral device extraction unit 206 extracts the peripheral device3 that was connected to the user terminal 1 at a specified date/time byextracting, from the connection information table, connectioninformation with the connection date/time being at or before thespecified date and the disconnection date/time being at or after thespecified date or being NULL. Further, the event log extraction unit 207searches the event log table by using the serial number of theperipheral device 3, to thereby extract an event log regarding thecorresponding peripheral device 3.

Note that in this embodiment, the various kinds of information includedin records accumulated in the table described later, such as theconnection date/time and the disconnection date/time, are initialized byNULL. Therefore, in this embodiment, it may be determined that thecorresponding information (such as disconnection date/time) has not yetbeen detected or input based on whether or not the information is NULL.However, the various kinds of information included in a table record maybe initialized by another predetermined value (for example, valueindicating that the information has not yet been detected or input), orit may be determined that the information has not yet been detected orinput based on the predetermined value.

If it is detected by the movement detection unit 203 that the peripheraldevice 3 has been disconnected from one user terminal and has moved toanother user terminal by being connected thereto, the estimation unit208 estimates a cause for the occurrence of an event of an error or thelike by judging whether or not contents of the event log extracted bythe event log extraction unit 207 are changed before and after themovement.

The correlation information retaining unit 209 retains the softwarecorrespondence table for judging a correlation among the driver and arelated application installed on the user terminal 1 and firmwareinstalled on the peripheral device 3.

The correlation judgment unit 210 references the software correspondencetable based on the received information on software, to thereby judgewhether or not the driver and the related application installed on theuser terminal 1 and the firmware installed on the peripheral device 3have a predetermined correlation thereamong.

If it is judged that the driver and the related application installed onthe user terminal 1 and the firmware installed on the peripheral device3 do not have the predetermined correlation defined in the softwarecorrespondence table, the request transmission unit 211 transmits achange request for software necessary to satisfy the predeterminedcorrelation to the user terminal 1.

<Data Structure>

Each of the server device 2 and the user terminal 1 retains informationused for various kinds of processings executed in the peripheral devicemanagement system 100. Here, the various kinds of information to besaved are recorded in the various kinds of tables described below.Further, of the various kinds of tables described below, the peripheraldevice table, the use history table, the event log table, the connectioninformation table, the consumable item characteristic table, and the usetendency table are also retained in the user terminal 1. However,information regarding another user terminal 1 (such as terminal ID) isnot retained in the tables retained in the user terminal 1.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the terminal tableaccording to this embodiment. Recorded in the terminal table are theterminal ID, the device type of the peripheral device 3, the serialnumber of the peripheral device 3, the driver information of theperipheral device 3, the related application information related to theperipheral device 3, and the power state of the user terminal 1. Here,the terminal ID is information that may uniquely identify the userterminal 1 at least within the network 9 managed by the server device 2.Examples of the terminal ID that may be used include a terminal name setso as to avoid an overlap within the network 9 and the MAC address ofthe user terminal 1.

Further, the device type is information indicating the kind of theperipheral device 3 connected to the user terminal 1. In thisembodiment, the device type is classified according to main functionsthereof. Acquired as the device type is such information as to allowjudgment as to which of the printer 3 b, the scanner 3 a, the externalmemory 3 c, and the like the peripheral device 3 is. Further, the serialnumber of the peripheral device 3 is acquired so as to identify theperipheral device 3.

The driver information is information regarding the program (driver)that is installed on the user terminal for controlling the peripheraldevice 3 from the user terminal 1 and executed by the user terminal 1.In this embodiment, the driver information includes version informationon the driver.

The related application information is information regarding anapplication related to the peripheral device 3. The related applicationincludes applications for performing a processing using a functionimplemented by the peripheral device 3 and performing a processing usinginput/output results produced by the peripheral device 3. In thisembodiment, the related application information includes the versioninformation on an application related to the function of the peripheraldevice 3.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the peripheral devicetable according to this embodiment. Recorded in the peripheral devicetable are the device type and the serial number of the peripheral device3, the firmware information, the power state of the peripheral device 3,the consumable item name, the cumulative use amount of the consumableitem, and the threshold value for judging the timing to output theexchange/replenishment prompt notification for the consumable item.

Here, the firmware information is information regarding firmware appliedto the peripheral device 3. In this embodiment, the firmware informationincludes the version information on the firmware applied to theperipheral device 3. Note that description is omitted of informationthat overlaps with the information recorded in the terminal tabledescribed with reference to FIG. 3.

Further, for each table record regarding the peripheral device 3, thename of the consumable item used in the peripheral device 3 and thecumulative use amount are accumulated in the peripheral device table.Therefore, when the consumable item information on the peripheral deviceis received, the use amount included in the consumable item informationon the peripheral device is accumulated in addition to thecurrently-retained cumulative use amount in the cumulative use amount ofthe peripheral device table. When being reset at the timing of exchange,replenishment, or the like of the consumable item, the cumulative useamount retains a total of the use amounts since the replenishment of theconsumable item by being repeatedly added until the next reset each timethe consumable item information on the peripheral device is received.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the use history tableaccording to this embodiment. Recorded in the use history table are thedevice type and the serial number of the peripheral device 3, theconsumable item name, the use amount of the consumable item, and theconnection date/time and the disconnection date/time of the peripheraldevice 3. Further, in the use history table, a new record that recordsthe use amount of the consumable item is added along with informationindicating the connection date/time or the disconnection date/time eachtime the peripheral device 3 is connected or disconnected. In otherwords, the use amount of the consumable item is accumulated in the usehistory table for each period during which the peripheral device 3 isconnected. This allows a grasp of the period during which the peripheraldevice 3 was connected to the user terminal 1, the use amount of theconsumable item obtained during the period, and the like.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the event log tableaccording to this embodiment. Recorded in the event log table is theevent log information including the occurrence date/time of the event(including an error in addition to a normal processing), the terminal IDof a terminal in which an event has occurred, the device type and theserial number of the peripheral device 3 regarding the occurrence of theevent, the consumable item name regarding the event that has occurred,and the message regarding the event (contents of the event).

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the connectioninformation table according to this embodiment. Recorded in theconnection information table are: the terminal ID of the user terminal 1regarding the detected connection or disconnection; and the device typeand the serial number of the peripheral device 3 that regard thedetected connection or disconnection, the connection date/time, and thedisconnection date/time.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the consumable itemcharacteristic table according to this embodiment. Recorded in theconsumable item characteristic table are the device type and the serialnumber of the peripheral device 3 in which the consumable item is used,the consumable item name, and the limit value of the use amount of theconsumable item (maximum amount of the consumable item that may beused).

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the use tendency tableaccording to this embodiment. Recorded in the use tendency table are thedevice type and the serial number of the peripheral device 3 in whichthe consumable item is used, the consumable item name, and theper-unit-time use amount of the consumable item as the use tendency.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a structure of the softwarecorrespondence table according to this embodiment. Recorded in thesoftware correspondence table is a combination of the driver and therelated application that are installed on the user terminal 1 and thefirmware that is installed on the peripheral device 3, the combinationhaving a predetermined correlation (in general, compatibility).

<Details of Processings>

Hereinafter, description is made of flows of processings for peripheraldevice management according to this embodiment with reference to FIGS.11 to 17. Note that, prior to the processings described below, theserver device 2 delivers, to the user terminal 1 connected to thenetwork 9, a program for peripheral device management for monitoring theperipheral device 3 connected to the user terminal 1. The user terminal1 executes the program for peripheral device management delivered by theserver device 2, and keeps the program resident in the RAM 12 while theuser terminal 1 is active. Note that in this embodiment, the program forperipheral device management includes a program for managing theconsumable item.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of the informationcollection processing according to this embodiment. The processingillustrated in the flowchart is regularly executed by software forperipheral device management which stays resident in the user terminal1, or executed by the user terminal 1 with the detection of theconnection or disconnection of the peripheral device 3 as a trigger.Note that the processing illustrated in the flowchart is a mere examplein terms of specific contents and sequence, and it is preferred that theprocessing contents and sequence suitable to an embodiment be employedas appropriate.

In Steps S101 and S102, the various kinds of information are collectedin the user terminal 1, and the collected information is transmitted tothe server device 2. The information acquisition unit 101 of the userterminal 1 monitors a connection status of the connected peripheraldevice 3, and when the peripheral device 3 connected to the userterminal 1 is detected, collects the various kinds of informationincluding: the terminal information (terminal ID, related applicationinformation, driver information, and power state of user terminal 1) onthe terminal connected to the peripheral device 3, the event loginformation (event occurrence date/time and message), and the peripheraldevice information (device type, serial number, firmware information,and power state of peripheral device 3) (Step S101), and thetransmission/reception unit 102 transmits the collected information tothe server device 2 (Step S102). The information items may be acquiredfrom a function of managing the peripheral device 3 and the driver,which is included in the OS or the like of the user terminal 1. However,a method of acquiring the information items by causing the software forperipheral device management to directly query the peripheral device 3may be employed instead of the method of acquisition from the OS or thelike.

Note that the collected information is retained also in the peripheraldevice table, the use history table, the event log table, the connectioninformation table, the consumable item characteristic table, and the usetendency table which are retained in the user terminal 1. The userterminal 1 may compare the information collected in the past andretained in each local table with newly-collected information each timethe information is collected, and only if there is a difference or ifthere is a change in the contents of information, transmit the collectedinformation to the server device 2.

In Steps S103 and S104, the information collected by the user terminal 1is received, and accumulated in the database. The transmission/receptionunit 201 of the server device 2 receives the terminal information, theevent log information, the peripheral device information, and the likewhich have been transmitted by the user terminal 1 (Step S103), and theinformation accumulation unit 202 accumulates the received informationitems in the database in association with each other (Step S104). Morespecifically, the server device 2 accumulates the terminal informationin the terminal table, the event log in the event log table, and theperipheral device information in the peripheral device table. Further,in the terminal table, the device type and the serial number of theperipheral device 3 connected to the corresponding user terminal 1 areadditionally accumulated in association with the terminal ID. In thisembodiment, by handling the device type and the serial numberaccumulated in association with the terminal ID as an external key ofthe peripheral device table, it is possible to associate, in thedatabase, the user terminal 1 recorded in the terminal table with theperipheral device information regarding the peripheral device 3connected to the user terminal 1. Further, the terminal ID of the userterminal 1 and the device type and the serial number of the peripheraldevice 3 regarding the event are recorded in the event log table inorder to associate the user terminal 1 and the peripheral device 3regarding the event with the event log.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a disconnectiondefection processing according to this embodiment. The processingillustrated in the flowchart is regularly executed by software forperipheral device management which stays resident in the user terminal1, or executed by the user terminal 1 with the detection of theconnection or disconnection of the peripheral device 3 as a trigger.Note that the processing illustrated in the flowchart is a mere examplein terms of specific contents and sequence, and it is preferred that theprocessing contents and sequence suitable to an embodiment be employedas appropriate.

In Steps S201 to S203, the connection or disconnection of the peripheraldevice 3 is detected, the various kinds of information are collected,and the collected information is transmitted to the server device 2. Theconnection status detection unit 103 of the user terminal 1 detects theconnection or disconnection of the peripheral device 3 by receiving thenotification of the event of the connection or disconnection of theperipheral device 3 which is sent from the OS or the driver of the userterminal 1 or by monitoring the state of the interface 15 for peripheraldevice connection (Step S201). If the connection or disconnection isdetected, with the detection of the connection or disconnection as atrigger, the information acquisition unit 101 of the user terminal 1acquires the device type and the serial number of the peripheral device3, the connection detection information including the connectiondate/time or the disconnection date/time, and the terminal ID whichregard the connection or disconnection (Step S202), and thetransmission/reception unit 102 transmits the acquired information tothe server device 2 (Step S203). After that, the processing advances toStep S204.

In Step S204 and Step S205, the information collected by the userterminal 1 is received and accumulated in the database. Thetransmission/reception unit 201 of the server device 2 receives thedevice type, the serial number, the connection detection information,and the terminal ID (hereinafter, the information items being referredto collectively as “connection information”) that have been transmittedby the user terminal 1 (Step S204), and the information accumulationunit 202 accumulates the received information items in the database inassociation with one another (Step S205). More specifically, theinformation accumulation unit 202 accumulates the terminal ID, thedevice type, the serial number, and the connection detection information(connection date/time or disconnection date/time) in the connectioninformation table.

However, if the information included in the received connectiondetection information is the disconnection date/time, the server device2 identifies the connection information that was accumulated when theconnection of the peripheral device 3 regarding the detecteddisconnection was detected, by searching the connection informationtable to extract a record including the terminal ID, the device type,and the serial number that have been received and having thedisconnection date/time set to NULL (or value indicating that thedisconnection date/time has not yet been notified of). Then, theinformation accumulation unit 202 records the received disconnectiondate/time in the identified record.

Note that the information accumulation unit 202 accumulates theconnection information notified of by the user terminal 1 in theconnection information table in a cumulative (additional) manner. Inother words, if the connection information regarding the peripheraldevice 3 on which the connection information has already beenaccumulated is received when, for example, the identical peripheraldevice 3 is reconnected to a different user terminal 1, the informationaccumulation unit 202 adds a new record and accumulates the connectioninformation in the connection information table without deleting therecord that records the past connection information regarding theidentical peripheral device 3 from the connection information table.According to this embodiment, by accumulating the connection informationin a cumulative manner, it is possible to record the dates/times atwhich the peripheral device 3 is connected to and disconnected from theuser terminal 1 as a history and grasp the period during which theperipheral device 3 has been connected to the user terminal 1. Afterthat, the processing advances to Step S206.

In Step S206, the information on the peripheral device 3 recorded in theterminal table is updated. The information update unit 204 of the serverdevice 2 uses the connection information received in Step S204 or thelatest connection information extracted from the connection informationtable to update the information of the terminal table (in thisembodiment, device type and serial number) to the latest state.Specifically, if the new connection information is information regardingthe disconnection of the peripheral device 3 (in other words, if theconnection detection information is the disconnection date/time), theinformation update unit 204 uses the terminal ID included in theconnection information to identify the record of the user terminal 1regarding the disconnection in the terminal table, and deletes thedevice type and the serial number of the disconnected peripheral device3 from the record.

On the other hand, if the new connection information is informationregarding the connection of the peripheral device 3 (in other words, ifthe connection detection information is the connection date/time), theinformation update unit 204 uses the terminal ID included in theconnection information to identify the record of the user terminal 1regarding the connection in the terminal table, and adds the device typeand the serial number of the newly-connected peripheral device 3 to therecord. Note that, as a result of searching the terminal table by usingthe device type and the serial number of the peripheral device 3regarding the connection, if the device type and the serial number ofthe peripheral device 3 are left recorded in the record of the userterminal 1 from which the peripheral device 3 should have beendisconnected, the device type and the serial number may be deleted fromthe record. After that, the processing advances to Step S207.

According to the processing illustrated in the flowchart, the connectioninformation is used to update the information of the terminal table tothe latest state, and hence the terminal table may be updatedimmediately after the connection and disconnection of the peripheraldevice 3 to keep the terminal table in the latest state.

In Steps S207 and S208, the version information on various kinds ofsoftware applied to the user terminal 1 and the peripheral device 3 isacquired, and a correspondence status of version of the software isdetermined. If the new connection information is the informationregarding the connection of the peripheral device 3, the server device 2reads the current firmware version applied to the peripheral device 3from the peripheral device table, and reads versions of the driver andthe related application installed on the user terminal 1 currentlyconnected to the peripheral device 3 from the terminal table (StepS207). Then, the correlation judgment unit 210 of the server device 2acquires the software correspondence table from the correlationinformation retaining unit 209, and references the softwarecorrespondence table to check whether or not the various kinds ofversion information read in Step S207 have the correlation defined inthe software correspondence table (Step S208). If it is determined thatthe various kinds of version information read in Step S207 have thecorrelation defined in the software correspondence table, the processingillustrated in the flowchart is brought to an end. If it is determinedthat there is a combination of software that does not match thecorrelation defined in the software correspondence table, the processingadvances to Step S209.

In Step S209, the software change request is transmitted. If there isincluded a combination of software that does not match the correlationdefined in the software correspondence table among the driver versionand the related application version of the user terminal 1 and thefirmware version of the peripheral device 3, the correlation judgmentunit 210 references the software correspondence table to identifysoftware as the cause. Then, the request transmission unit 211 of theserver device 2 transmits the change request for the software as thecause to the user terminal 1 so that the correspondence status ofversion among the various kinds of software satisfies the correlationdefined in the software correspondence table. If necessary, the serverdevice 2 may previously retain software for changing such as an updaterfor the various kinds of software in the auxiliary storage device 29 ofthe server device 2 and deliver the necessary software of changing tothe user terminal 1, or the user terminal 1 may confirm that aprocessing of changing software has been completed. After that, theprocessing illustrated in the flowchart is brought to an end.

According to the processing illustrated in the flowchart, unlike theconventional software updating simply maintains software in the lateststate, the software including the driver, the firmware, and the relatedapplication, which needs some correlation such as compatibility betweenthe user terminal 1 and the peripheral device 3, may maintain a state inwhich the correlation such as compatibility is kept. Further, thesoftware change request is issued in order to maintain the correlationsuch as compatibility, and hence a request may be made for a change tothe software of an older version in some cases instead of simply makinga request for an upgrade of the software, or if the correlation is lostdue to the update of the software, a processing of inhibiting therequest for the upgrade or other such processing may be performed.

Further, according to the processing illustrated in the flowchart,instead of simply maintaining the latest version of the various kinds ofsoftware related to the peripheral device 3, which include the driver,the firmware, and the related application, such a state as to satisfythe compatibility may be maintained by referencing the softwarecorrespondence table to check the presence/absence of the compatibility.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of a movement judgment forthe peripheral device 3 according to this embodiment. The processingillustrated in the flowchart is regularly executed, or executed with thereception of the connection information or the like from the userterminal 1 as a trigger. Note that the processing illustrated in theflowchart is a mere example in terms of specific contents and sequence,and it is preferred that the processing contents and sequence suitableto an embodiment be employed as appropriate.

In Step S301, the peripheral device information is acquired. The serverdevice 2 acquires all the peripheral device information from theperipheral device table. After that, the processing advances to StepS302. The processing of Steps S302 to S306 described below is repeatedlyexecuted while changing the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to ajudgment processing every loop until the judgment processing is finishedfor all the peripheral devices 3 identified by using the device type andthe serial number.

In Steps S302 to S305, the connection date/time and the disconnectiondate/time are referenced to judge whether or not the peripheral device 3has moved. The movement detection unit 203 of the server device 2determines whether or not a value (date/time) is stored (not NULL) inthe connection date/time of the latest record of the connectioninformation table that is related to the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the judgment processing with the disconnection date/timebeing set to NULL (Step S302). Further, the movement detection unit 203determines whether or not there exists the second latest record of theconnection information table that is related to the peripheral device 3to be subjected to the judgment processing (Step S303). If both thejudgment results of Steps S302 and S303 are positive, in other words, ifthe value is stored in the connection date/time of the latest record ofthe connection information table, the disconnection date/time is set toNULL, and the second latest record of the connection information tableexists, the processing advances to Step S305. On the other hand, if evenone of the criteria is not satisfied, the processing advances to StepS304.

Step S304 is executed if the value is not stored in the connectiondate/time of the latest record of the connection information table, thedisconnection date/time is not set to NULL (value is stored in thedisconnection date/time), or the second latest record of the connectioninformation table does not exist. In this case, the movement detectionunit 203 judges that the peripheral device 3 has not moved because itmay not be read from the history recorded in the connection informationtable that the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgmentprocessing is currently connected to any one of the user terminals 1 andthat the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgment processingwas disconnected from another user terminal 1 in the past. After that,the processing advances to Step S306.

Step S305 is executed if the value is stored in the connection date/timeof the latest record of the connection information table, thedisconnection date/time is set to NULL, and the second latest record ofthe connection information table exists. In this case, the movementdetection unit 203 judges that the peripheral device 3 has moved becauseit may be read from the history recorded in the connection informationtable that the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgmentprocessing is currently connected to any one of the user terminals 1 andthat the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgment processingwas disconnected from another user terminal 1 in the past. After that,the processing advances to Step S306.

In Step S306, it is determined whether or not the judgment processingfor the presence/absence of the movement has been finished for all theperipheral devices 3. If the judgment processing has not been finishedfor all the peripheral devices 3, the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the judgment processing is changed, and the processingadvances to Step S302. If the judgment processing has been finished forall the peripheral devices 3, the processing advances to Step S307. Inother words, the processing of Steps S302 to S306 is repeatedly executeduntil the judgment processing has been finished for all the peripheraldevices 3 recorded in the peripheral device table.

In Step S307, the terminal table is updated according to the judgmentresults for the movement. By using the latest connection information onthe peripheral device 3 judged to have moved in Step S305, theinformation update unit 204 updates the information on the terminaltable (in this embodiment, device type and serial number) to the lateststate. The information update unit 204 uses the terminal ID included inthe connection information to identify the record of the user terminal 1regarding the connection in the terminal table, and adds, to the record,the device type and the serial number of the peripheral device 3 judgedto have moved. Note that, as a result of searching the terminal table byusing the device type and the serial number of the peripheral device 3regarding the movement, if the device type and the serial number of theperipheral device 3 are left recorded in the record of the user terminal1 from which the peripheral device 3 should have been disconnected, thedevice type and the serial number may be deleted from the record. Afterthat, the processing illustrated in the flowchart is brought to an end.

According to the processing illustrated in the flowchart, theinformation on the terminal table is updated to the latest state inconjunction with the detection of the movement of the peripheral device3. Therefore, the terminal table may maintain the latest state, and theadministrator may instantaneously grasp the movement of the peripheraldevice 3. Note that the judgment results for the movement performed inSteps S302 to S305 may be output as a notification with respect to theadministrator, the user, or the like. As a method for the output, it ispreferred that an optimal output method be employed according to anembodiment as appropriate from among an output to a display, a printoutput, a transmission output of electronic mail or the like, an outputto a storage device such as the auxiliary storage device 19 or 29, andother such output.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an unused peripheraldevice judgment processing according to this embodiment. The processingillustrated in the flowchart is executed on a regular basis or with theinput of a processing start instruction issued by the user or the likevia the input device or the network 9 as a trigger. Note that theprocessing illustrated in the flowchart is a mere example in terms ofspecific contents and sequence of the processing, and it is preferredthat the processing contents and sequence suitable to an embodiment beemployed as appropriate.

In Step S401, the peripheral device information is acquired. The serverdevice 2 acquires all the peripheral device information from theperipheral device table. After that, the processing advances to StepS402. The processing of Steps S402 to S408 described below is repeatedlyexecuted while changing the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to ajudgment processing every loop until the judgment processing is finishedfor all the peripheral devices 3 identified by using the device type andthe serial number.

In Step S402, it is determined whether or not the peripheral device 3 tobe subjected to the judgment processing is connected to any one of theuser terminals 1. The unused peripheral device detection unit 205 of theserver device 2 searches the terminal table by using the device type andthe serial number regarding the peripheral device 3 to be subjected tothe judgment processing, to thereby determine whether or not theperipheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgment processing isconnected to any one of the user terminals 1. If the device type and theserial number regarding the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to thejudgment processing are retrieved from the terminal table, theprocessing advances to Step S404. If the device type or the serialnumber regarding the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgmentprocessing is not retrieved from the terminal table, the processingadvances to Step S403.

In Step S403, it is determined that the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the judgment processing is an unused peripheral device(unconnected). If the device type or the serial number regarding theperipheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgment processing is notretrieved from the terminal table in Step S402, the unused peripheraldevice detection unit 205 judges that the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the judgment processing is not connected to any of the userterminals 1, and determines that the peripheral device 3 is the unusedperipheral device (unconnected). After that, the processing advances toStep S408.

In Step S404, the power state of the peripheral device 3 to be subjectedto the judgment processing is determined. The unused peripheral devicedetection unit 205 references the value of the power state within therecord of the peripheral device table related to the peripheral device 3to be subjected to the judgment processing, to thereby determine whetherthe power to the peripheral device 3 is currently on or off. If it isdetermined that the power to the peripheral device 3 is on, theprocessing advances to Step S405. If it is determined that the power tothe peripheral device 3 is off, the processing advances to Step S406.

In Step S405, the power state of the user terminal 1 connected to theperipheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgment processing isdetermined. The unused peripheral device detection unit 205 referencesthe value of the power state within the record of the terminal tablerelated to the user terminal 1 connected to the peripheral device 3 tobe subjected to the judgment processing, which has been retrieved inStep S402, to thereby determine whether the power to the user terminal 1is currently on or off. If it is determined that the power to the userterminal 1 is on, the processing advances to Step S407. If it isdetermined that the power to the user terminal 1 is off, the processingadvances to Step S406.

In Step S406, it is determined that the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the judgment processing is the unused peripheral device(powered off). If it is determined in Step S404 that the power to theperipheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgment processing is off,or if it is determined in Step S405 that the power to the user terminal1 to which the peripheral device 3 is connected is off, the unusedperipheral device detection unit 205 judges that the peripheral device 3to be subjected to the judgment processing is not being utilized, anddetermines that the peripheral device 3 is the unused peripheral device(powered off). After that, the processing advances to Step S408.

In Step S407, it is determined that the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the judgment processing is a peripheral device being used.If it is determined in Step S404 that the power to the peripheral device3 to be subjected to the judgment processing is on, and if it isdetermined in Step S405 that the power to the user terminal 1 to whichthe peripheral device 3 is connected is on, the unused peripheral devicedetection unit 205 judges that the peripheral device 3 to be subjectedto the judgment processing is being used, and determines that theperipheral device 3 is the peripheral device being used. After that, theprocessing advances to Step S408.

In Step S408, it is determined whether or not the judgment processinghas been finished for all the peripheral devices 3. If the judgmentprocessing has not been finished for all the peripheral devices 3, theperipheral device 3 to be subjected to the judgment processing ischanged, and the processing advances to Step S402. If the judgmentprocessing has been finished for all the peripheral devices 3, theprocessing advances to Step S409. In other words, the processing ofSteps S402 to S408 is repeatedly executed until the judgment processinghas been finished for all the peripheral devices 3 recorded in theperipheral device table.

In Step S409, the judgment results are output, and the administrator isnotified thereof. The server device 2 outputs information for notifyingof the judgment result produced by the processing of steps up to StepS408, in other words, which of the peripheral device 3 being used, theunused peripheral device that is not connected, and the unusedperipheral device powered off the peripheral device 3 being managed is.As a format for outputting the information, it is preferred that anoptimal output format be employed according to an embodiment asappropriate. For example, a list for notifying of the judgment resultregarding all the peripheral devices 3 may be output, or an output fornotifying only of the unused peripheral device may be performed.Further, as the method for the output, an optimal output method may beemployed according to an embodiment as appropriate from among the outputto a display, the print output, the transmission output of electronicmail or the like, the output to the storage device such as the auxiliarystorage device 19 or 29, and other such output.

According to the processing illustrated in the flowchart, byinstantaneously grasping the peripheral device 3 that is not currentlyused, the administrator may extract an idle asset or consider moving theperipheral device 3 that is connected to a given user device but is notbeing used to another user device.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a peripheral deviceconfiguration tracing processing according to this embodiment. Theprocessing illustrated in the flowchart is executed with the input of aprocessing start instruction issued by the user or the like via theinput device or the network 9 as a trigger. Note that the processingillustrated in the flowchart is a mere example in terms of specificcontents and sequence of the processing, and it is preferred that theprocessing contents and sequence suitable to an embodiment be employedas appropriate.

In Step S501, the input of the specified date/time is received. Theinput reception unit 212 of the server device 2 receives the input ofthe specified date/time specified by the user via the input device.Here, the specified date/time represents a date/time indicating a timepoint at which the user wants to know the connection status of theperipheral device 3 with respect to the user terminal 1 under managementof the server device 2. The input of the specified date/time may bereceived in a format of “year, month, day, and time”, a format of “oneday ago”, “one week ago”, or the like for indicating a time pointrelative to the current time, and other various formats. Irrespective ofthe format used for the input, the specified date/time is converted intoa format that allows a comparison with the connection date/time and thedisconnection date/time recorded in the connection information table.After that, the processing advances to Step S502.

In Step S502, the connection information is acquired. The server device2 acquires all the connection information from the connectioninformation table. After that, the processing advances to Step S503. Theprocessing of Steps S503 to S506 described below is repeatedly executedwhile changing the connection information to be subjected to a judgmentprocessing every loop until the judgment processing is finished for allthe connection information.

In Steps S503 to S505, it is determined whether or not the connectioninformation to be subjected to the judgment processing is the connectioninformation indicating that the corresponding peripheral device 3 wasconnected to any one of the user terminals 1 at the specified date/time.The peripheral device extraction unit 206 extracts the values of theconnection date/time and the disconnection date/time from the connectioninformation to be subjected to the judgment processing, and determineswhether or not the specified date/time input in Step S501 satisfies anyone of criteria: being at or after the connection date/time and at orbefore the disconnection date/time; and being at or after the connectiondate/time with the disconnection date/time being NULL (Step S503). If itis determined that any one of the criteria is satisfied, the processingadvances to Step S505. If it is determined that none of the criteria issatisfied, the processing advances to Step S504.

If the specified date/time input in Step S501 satisfies none of thecriteria: being at or after the connection date/time and at or beforethe disconnection date/time; and being at or after the connectiondate/time with the disconnection date/time being NULL, the peripheraldevice extraction unit 206 judges that the connection information to besubjected to the judgment processing is not the connection informationindicating that the corresponding peripheral device 3 was connected toany one of the user terminals 1 at the specified date/time (Step S504).After that, the processing advances to Step S506.

If the specified date/time input in Step S501 satisfies any one of thecriteria: being at or after the connection date/time and at or beforethe disconnection date/time; and being at or after the connectiondate/time with the disconnection date/time being NULL, the peripheraldevice extraction unit 206 judges that the connection information to besubjected to the judgment processing is the connection informationindicating that the corresponding peripheral device 3 was connected toany one of the user terminals 1 at the specified date/time (Step S505).After that, the processing advances to Step S506.

In Step S506, it is determined whether or not the judgment processinghas been finished for all the connection information. If the judgmentprocessing has not been finished for all the connection information, theconnection information to be subjected to the judgment processing ischanged, and the processing advances to Step S503. If the judgmentprocessing has been finished for all the connection information, theprocessing advances to Step S507. In other words, the processing ofSteps S503 to S506 is repeatedly executed until the judgment processinghas been finished for all the connection information recorded in theconnection information.

In Step S507, configuration information is output. In the processing ofsteps up to Step S506, the server device 2 creates the configurationinformation based on the connection information determined to be theconfiguration information at the specified date/time input in Step S501,and outputs the configuration information. The configuration informationmay be output by simply arranging the connection information itemsdetermined to be the configuration information at the specifieddate/time. Alternatively, a network configuration diagram indicating theconnection status of the peripheral device 3 may be created based on theterminal ID, the device type, the serial number, and the like includedin those connection information items, and output graphically as theconfiguration information. Further, as the method for the output, anoptimal output method may be employed according to an embodiment asappropriate from among the output to a display, the print output, thetransmission output of electronic mail or the like, the output to thestorage device such as the auxiliary storage device 19 and 29, and othersuch output. After that, the processing illustrated in the flowchart isbrought to an end.

According to the processing illustrated in the flowchart, the serverdevice 2 references the connection information table in which theconnection information is accumulated, and extracts the connectioninformation with the connection date/time being at or before thespecified date/time and the disconnection date/time being at or afterthe specified date/time (including the record with the disconnectiondate/time left blank), which allows the administrator to reference thehistory of the configuration information at the specified date/time.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of an event tracingprocessing according to this embodiment. The processing illustrated inthe flowchart is executed with the input of a processing startinstruction issued by the user or the like via the input device or thenetwork 9 as a trigger. Note that the processing illustrated in theflowchart is a mere example in terms of specific contents and sequenceof the processing, and it is preferred that the processing contents andsequence suitable to an embodiment be employed as appropriate.

In Step S601, the event log is acquired. The server device 2 acquiresall the event logs from the event log table. After that, the processingadvances to Step S602. The processing of Steps S602 to S608 describedbelow is repeatedly executed while changing the peripheral device to besubjected to a summation processing every loop until the summationprocessing is finished for all the peripheral devices 3.

In Steps S602 and S603, the event logs are narrowed down for each of theperipheral devices 3, and the summation processing is performed for thenarrowed event logs. The event log extraction unit 207 of the serverdevice 2 uses the device type and the serial number to search the eventlogs, and extracts the event log regarding the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the summation processing (Step S602). Then, the event logextraction unit 207 performs an event summation processing includingerror content analysis and summation for the extracted event logs (StepS603). For example, for the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to thesummation processing, the event log extraction unit 207 may performcalculation of error times within a predetermined period, classificationof error contents (messages), or the like. For example, in the event logillustrated in FIG. 6, if the summation processing is performed for thescanner 3 a having the serial number of A, the fact that an error of themessage “Error1” occurred three times from Jan. 1, 2010 until Jan. 4,2010 and other such fact are output as the summation results. Afterthat, the processing advances to Step S604.

In Step S604, the presence/absence of the movement of the peripheraldevice 3 is determined. The server device 2 references the event logregarding the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the summationprocessing, which is extracted in Step S602, to determine whether or notthe event log having the terminal ID indicating the user terminaldifferent from the currently-connected user terminal is included, tothereby determine whether or not the peripheral device 3 was connectedto the user terminal different from the currently-connected userterminal in the past. Note that only the connection status in the nearpast may be set as the determination subject by limiting the event logof the determination subject to the event log regarding the occurrencedate/time within a predetermined period from the present date/time tothe past (for example, within the past one week) or by performing othersuch operation. If it is determined that the peripheral device 3 wasconnected to the user terminal different from the currently-connecteduser terminal in the past, the processing advances to Step S605.Otherwise, the processing advances to Step S608.

In Step S605, a comparison is performed between the events that occurredbefore and after the movement of the peripheral device 3. The estimationunit 208 checks whether or not, when the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the summation processing was connected to the user terminaldifferent from the currently-connected user terminal in the past, thereoccurred an error which is the same as or related to the error that hascurrently occurred in the peripheral device 3. More specifically, if theevent log having the terminal ID indicating the user terminal differentfrom the currently-connected user terminal is included in the event logregarding the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the summationprocessing, the estimation unit 208 determines whether or not themessage recorded in the event log is a message which is the same as orrelated to the message of the currently-occurring error (messagerecorded in the recent event log).

Note that here, the event log referenced for identifying the message ofthe currently-occurring error may be the latest event log regarding theperipheral device 3 to be subjected to the summation processing, or maybe the last event log within a predetermined past period (for example,within the past one day) regarding the peripheral device 3 to besubjected to the summation processing. Note that in the step, thepredetermined period set for identifying the message of thecurrently-occurring error is a period different from the predeterminedperiod for determining the connection status with respect to thedifferent user terminal 1 described in Step S604, and a shorter periodis set.

As a result of the determination, if it is determined that thereoccurred an error which is the same as or related to the error that hascurrently occurred in the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to thesummation processing when the peripheral device 3 was connected to theuser terminal 1 different from the currently-connected user terminal 1in the past, the processing advances to Step S606. On the other hand, ifit is determined that a different error occurred, the processingadvances to Step S607.

In Steps S606 and S607, estimation of the cause for thecurrently-occurring error is performed. If there occurred the errorwhich is the same as or related to the currently-occurring error alsowhen the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the summation processingwas connected to another user terminal 1 in the past, the estimationunit 208 determines that the error is an error ascribable to theperipheral device 3 (Step S606). On the other hand, if the error whichis the same as or related to the currently-occurring error did not occurwhen the peripheral device 3 to be subjected to the summation processingwas connected to another user terminal 1 in the past, the estimationunit 208 determines that the currently-occurring error is an errorascribable to the user terminal 1 or the peripheral device 3 (StepS607). After that, the processing advances to Step S608.

In Step S608, it is determined whether or not the summation processingis finished for all the peripheral devices 3. If the summationprocessing is not finished for all the peripheral devices 3, theperipheral device 3 to be subjected to the summation processing ischanged, and the processing advances to Step S602. If the summationprocessing is finished for all the peripheral devices 3, the processingadvances to Step S609. In other words, the processing of Steps S602 toS608 is repeatedly executed until the summation processing is finishedfor all the peripheral devices 3 recorded in the peripheral devicetable.

In Step S609, the output of the summation result is performed. Theserver device 2 outputs the result of the summation processing for theevent logs, which is performed in Step S603, and the result of theestimation of the cause for the currently-occurring error, which isperformed in Step S606 or S607. In the same manner as the outputsperformed in the other flowcharts described above, as the method for theoutput, an optimal output method may be employed according to anembodiment as appropriate from among the output to a display, the printoutput, the transmission output of electronic mail or the like, theoutput to the storage device such as the auxiliary storage device 19 or29, and other such output. After that, the processing illustrated in theflowchart is brought to an end.

Note that with reference to the flowchart, the description is made ofthe method of performing the summation on a peripheral device basis byusing the device type and the serial number to narrow down the eventlogs, but instead, the summation may be performed on a user terminal 1basis by using the terminal ID to narrow down the event logs. Accordingto the processing illustrated in the flowchart, the administrator maygrasp the history of the event logs based on the user terminal 1 and theperipheral device 3, and may further grasp the estimation result of thecause for the occurrence of the error with ease.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a consumable itemmanagement processing according to this embodiment. The processingillustrated in the flowchart is executed on a regular basis or with theinput of a processing start instruction issued by the user or the likevia the input device or the network 9 as a trigger. Note that theprocessing illustrated in the flowchart is a mere example in terms ofspecific contents and sequence of the processing, and it is preferredthat the processing contents and sequence suitable to an embodiment beemployed as appropriate.

Information (consumable item information on the peripheral device)related to the consumable items (for example, toner, paper, andbattery), which is used in the processing illustrated in the flowchart,is collected or acquired by the user terminal 1 in Step S101 of theinformation collection processing described above, Step S202 of thedisconnection detection processing described above, or the like, and isaccumulated in the peripheral device table, the use history table, theevent log table, the connection information table, the consumable itemcharacteristic table, the use tendency table, and the like on the userterminal 1 side.

In Step S701, a consumable item characteristic is analyzed on aconsumable item basis, and the limit value of the use amount of theconsumable item is set. The limit value calculation unit 104 of the userterminal 1 analyzes the consumable item characteristic based on thecumulative use amount of the consumable item, which is acquired from theperipheral device table, and the event log related to the consumableitem, calculates the limit value of the use amount of the consumableitem, and updates the limit value set in the consumable itemcharacteristic table. Here, the limit value of the use amount representsa value indicating how much amount of the consumable item may be used atthe maximum before the replacement becomes necessary (replenishmentbecomes necessary), and may be calculated by various methods. Forexample, the possible methods include a method of setting the cumulativeuse amount obtained at the occurrence of the event as the limit valuewithout change, a method of setting an average of the cumulative useamount obtained at the occurrence of the event and the previous limitvalue as the limit value, and a method of setting an average of thecumulative use amount obtained at the occurrence of the event and thepast limit value results as the limit value.

Specifically, in a case where the method of setting the cumulative useamount obtained at the occurrence of the event as the limit valuewithout change is employed, if the cumulative use amount obtained at theoccurrence of the event is 10,000 times, “10,000” is set as the limitvalue. In a case where the method of setting the average of thecumulative use amount obtained at the occurrence of the event and theprevious limit value as the limit value is employed, if the previouslimit value is 20,000 times and if the cumulative use amount obtained atthe occurrence of the event is 10,000 times, the average thereof, thatis, “15,000” (=(20,000+10,000)/2) is set as the limit value. Further, ina case where the method of setting the average of the cumulative useamount obtained at the occurrence of the event and the past limit valueresults as the limit value is employed, if the limit values set so farare 18,000, 17,000, and 19,000 and if the cumulative use amount obtainedat the occurrence of the event is 10,000 times, the average thereof,that is, “16,000” (=(18,000+17,000+19,000+10,000)/4) is set as the limitvalue. After that, the processing advances to Step S702.

Note that in the consumable item characteristic table illustrated inFIG. 8, the value that reads “default” is a use amount upper limit valueprovided by a vendor of the peripheral device. The use amount upperlimit value provided by the vendor may be set as the initial value ofthe limit value. Further, in the calculation of the limit valueperformed at a time point when the previous limit value or the pastlimit values are not accumulated, the use amount upper limit valueprovided by the vendor may be used as the previous limit value or thepast limit values.

In Step S702, the use tendency is analyzed to set the use amount of theconsumable item obtained during a predetermined unit time (in thisembodiment, one day). The use tendency calculation unit 105 of the userterminal 1 analyzes the use tendency of the consumable item for theperipheral device for each of the peripheral devices 3 based on the useperiod and the use amount obtained during the use period which aregrasped from the use history table, and calculates the use amount of theconsumable item obtained during the predetermined unit time.Specifically, the use amount of the consumable item obtained during theunit time may be calculated by dividing the use amount obtained during ause period by the use period. Here, the use period may be acquired bycalculating a time from the connection date/time read from the usehistory table to the disconnection date/time read therefrom. Note thatif the disconnection date/time is NULL, the use period may be calculatedby calculating a time from the connection date/time to the presentdate/time. The calculated per-unit-time use amount is set into the usetendency table.

For example, with regard to the use of the consumable item “a” for thescanner 3 a having the serial number “A”, if the use amount obtainedduring the use period of two days from Jan. 1, 2010 until Jan. 3, 2010is 400 times and if the use amount obtained during the use period offour days from Jan. 6, 2010 until a use tendency analysis time point(here, set as Jan. 10, 2010) is 800 times, the use amount of theconsumable item obtained during the unit time of one day is 200times/day (=(400+800)times/(2+4)days). The use amount obtained during apredetermined unit period is calculated and set, and after that, theprocessing advances to Step S703.

In Step S703, the threshold value for notification outputting iscalculated and set from the consumable item characteristic and the usetendency. Based on the limit value of the use amount of the consumableitem, which is set in Step S701, and the use amount of the consumableitem obtained during the predetermined unit time, which is set in StepS702, the threshold value calculation unit 106 of the user terminal 1calculates a threshold value for judging a timing for outputting anotification that informs the administrator of theexchange/replenishment timing for the consumable item, and sets thethreshold value into the peripheral device table.

Here, the threshold value is the value for judging the timing foroutputting the notification that informs the administrator of theexchange/replenishment timing for the consumable item in considerationof how much time is required for the exchange/replenishment of theconsumable item, and may be calculated by various methods. Possibleexamples thereof include a method of setting a value obtained bysubtracting (per-unit-time use amount)*(exchange/replenishmentrequirement period) from the limit value as the threshold value.Specifically, if the exchange/replenishment requirement period is set to10 days with the limit value set to 10,000 times and the per-unit-timeuse amount set to 130 times/day, “8,700” (=10,000−130*10) is set as thethreshold value.

Note that methods that may be employed as the setting of theexchange/replenishment requirement period used for the calculation ofthe threshold value include: a method in which the setting is performedby the administrator; and a method in which a period required in thepast from the outputting of the notification until resetting of thecumulative use amount (the cumulative use amount is reset to 0 due tothe exchange, the replenishment, or the like of the consumable item) isstored in advance, and based on the stored period, theexchange/replenishment requirement period is variably set on aconsumable item basis. For example, if the past outputting of thenotification regarding a given consumable item took place on Jan. 10,2009 and if the resetting of the cumulative use amount due to theexchange/replenishment or the like of the consumable item according tothe notification took place on Jan. 20, 2009, it turns out that 10 dayswere required for the exchange/replenishment, and hence “10 days” is setas the exchange/replenishment requirement period with regard to theconsumable item.

After the calculation and the setting of the threshold value arecompleted, the processing illustrated in the flowchart is brought to anend. The comparison unit 107 of the user terminal 1 monitors thecumulative use amount of the consumable item for the connectedperipheral device 3, and compares the threshold value set in Step S703with the cumulative use amount on a regular basis or each time thecumulative use amount is updated. Then, if the cumulative use amountexceeds the threshold value, the notification outputting unit 108 of theuser terminal 1 outputs the notification that informs the administratorof the exchange/replenishment timing for the consumable item.Specifically, if the consumable item is the toner for the printer 3 b, anotification message such as “Running out of toner in about 10 days.Replenish the toner by then.” is output to the administrator by anoutput method employed according to an embodiment from among the outputto a display, the print output, the transmission output of electronicmail or the like, the output to the storage device such as the auxiliarystorage device 19 or 29, and other such output.

According to the processing illustrated in the flowchart, it is possibleto notify the administrator or the user of an alert related to theconsumable item used on the peripheral device 3 at an appropriatetiming. Note that in this embodiment, the description is made by takingthe user terminal 1 as a main component that executes the consumableitem management processing, but the consumable item managementprocessing is not necessarily performed by the user terminal 1 to whichthe peripheral device 3 is connected. For example, the consumable itemmanagement processing may be executed by the server device 2 afterinformation (table and the like) necessary for the processing istransmitted from the user terminal 1 to the server device 2.

All example and conditional language recited herein are intended forpedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the inventionand the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, andare to be construed as being without limitation to such specificallyrecited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of suchexample in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority andinferiority of the invention. Although the embodiment(s) of the presentinvention(s) has (have) been described in detail, it should beunderstood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterationscould be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1. An information processing device, which is communicably connected toa server device via a network, comprising: a terminal informationacquisition unit to acquire terminal information related to theinformation processing device, the terminal information includinginformation that may identify the information processing device; aperipheral device information acquisition unit to acquire peripheraldevice information related to a peripheral device connected to theinformation processing device via an interface for peripheral deviceconnection, which is different from a communication interface connectedto the network, the peripheral device information including informationthat may identify the peripheral device; and a transmission unit totransmit the terminal information and the peripheral device informationto the server device.
 2. An information processing device according toclaim 1, further comprising: a connection status detection unit todetect that the peripheral device has been connected to or disconnectedfrom the information processing device; and a connection informationacquisition unit to acquire connection information related to detectedconnection or disconnection, the connection information includingdate/time information regarding the connection or the disconnection,wherein: the peripheral device information acquisition unit acquires, inresponse to the detection of the connection or the disconnectionperformed by the connection status detection unit, the peripheral deviceinformation related to the peripheral device regarding the connection orthe disconnection; and the transmission unit transmits, in response tothe detection of the connection or the disconnection performed by theconnection status detection unit, the terminal information, theperipheral device information, and the connection information to theserver device.
 3. A server device, comprising: a reception unit toreceive terminal information including information that may identify aninformation processing device communicably connected to the serverdevice via a network, the terminal information being transmitted fromthe information processing device, and peripheral device informationincluding information that may identify a peripheral device connected tothe information processing device via an interface for peripheral deviceconnection, which is different from a communication interface connectedto the network; and an information accumulation unit to accumulate theterminal information and the peripheral device information inassociation with the information that may identify the informationprocessing device that is an information transmission source and theinformation that may identify the peripheral device.
 4. A server deviceaccording to claim 3, wherein: the reception unit further receivesconnection information including date/time information regardingconnection or disconnection of the peripheral device detected by theinformation processing device, the connection information beingtransmitted from the information processing device; and the informationaccumulation unit accumulates the connection information in associationwith the information that may identify the information processing deviceregarding the connection or the disconnection and the information thatmay identify the peripheral device.
 5. A server device according toclaim 4, further comprising: a movement detection unit to detect thatthe peripheral device has been moved by being disconnected from oneinformation processing device and being connected to another informationprocessing device, by way of searching the connection informationaccumulated by the information accumulation unit by using theinformation that may identify the peripheral device, to thereby extracta history of the connection and the disconnection of the peripheraldevice to and from the information processing device.
 6. A server deviceaccording to claim 4, wherein: the reception unit further receives anactivation state of the peripheral device connected to the informationprocessing device, the activation state being transmitted from theinformation processing device; and the server device further comprises:an information update unit to update the peripheral device informationaccumulated by the information accumulation unit based on the connectioninformation received by the reception unit so as to enable judgment asto whether or not the peripheral device regarding the peripheral deviceinformation is connected to the information processing device; and anunused peripheral device detection unit to detect a peripheral devicethat has not been activated and a peripheral device that is notconnected to the information processing device by referencing theactivation state and the peripheral device information.
 7. A serverdevice according to claim 4, further comprising: an input reception unitto receive an input of a specified date/time; and a peripheral deviceextraction unit to extract a peripheral device that was connected to anyone of the information processing devices at the specified date/time byextracting, from the connection information accumulated by theinformation accumulation unit, connection information with a date/timeregarding the connection being at or before the specified date/time anda date/time regarding the disconnection being at or after the specifieddate/time or being unrecorded.
 8. A server device according to claim 4,wherein: the reception unit further receives an event log of an eventthat has occurred on the information processing device, the event logbeing transmitted from the information processing device; theinformation accumulation unit further accumulates the event log inassociation with the information that may identify the informationprocessing device regarding the event and the information that mayidentify the peripheral device regarding the event; and the serverdevice further comprises: an event log extraction unit to search theevent log accumulated by the information accumulation unit by usinginformation that may identify a predetermined peripheral device, tothereby extract the event log regarding the predetermined peripheraldevice.
 9. A server device according to claim 8, further comprising: anestimation unit to estimate a cause for an occurrence of the event byjudging, if the movement detection unit has detected that thepredetermined peripheral device has been moved by being disconnectedfrom the one information processing device and being connected to theanother information processing device, whether or not contents of theevent log regarding the predetermined peripheral device which isextracted by the event log extraction unit are changed before and afterthe movement.
 10. A server device according to claim 3, wherein: thereception unit further receives software information transmitted fromthe information processing device, the software information includinginformation on software installed on the peripheral device connected tothe information processing device, and information on software relatedto the peripheral device, which is installed on the informationprocessing device, and the server device further comprises: acorrelation information retaining unit to retain correlation informationfor judging a correlation between the software installed on theinformation processing device and the software installed on theperipheral device; a correlation judgment unit to judge, by referencingthe correlation information based on the software information receivedby the reception unit, whether or not the software installed on theinformation processing device and the software installed on theperipheral device have a predetermined correlation; and a requesttransmission unit to transmit, if it is judged that the softwareinstalled on the information processing device and the softwareinstalled on the peripheral device do not have the predeterminedcorrelation, a software change request necessary to satisfy thepredetermined correlation to the information processing device.
 11. Aperipheral device management method, comprising: receiving, by acomputer serving as a server device, terminal information includinginformation that may identify a user terminal communicably connected tothe computer via a network, the terminal information being transmittedfrom the user terminal, and peripheral device information includinginformation that may identify a peripheral device connected to the userterminal via an interface for peripheral device connection, which isdifferent from a communication interface connected to the network; andaccumulating, by the computer, the terminal information and theperipheral device information in association with the information thatmay identify the user terminal that is an information transmissionsource and the information that may identify the peripheral device. 12.A peripheral device management method according to claim 11, wherein:said receiving, further receives connection information includingdate/time information regarding connection or disconnection of theperipheral device detected by the information processing device, theconnection information being transmitted from the information processingdevice; and said accumulating, accumulates the connection information inassociation with the information that may identify the informationprocessing device regarding the connection or the disconnection and theinformation that may identify the peripheral device.
 13. A peripheraldevice management method according to claim 12, further comprising:detecting that the peripheral device has been moved by beingdisconnected from one information processing device and being connectedto another information processing device, by way of searching theconnection information accumulated by said accumulating by using theinformation that may identify the peripheral device, to thereby extracta history of the connection and the disconnection of the peripheraldevice to and from the information processing device.
 14. A peripheraldevice management method according to claim 12, wherein: said receiving,further receives an activation state of the peripheral device connectedto the information processing device, the activation state beingtransmitted from the information processing device; and the peripheraldevice management method further comprises: updating the peripheraldevice information accumulated by said accumulating based on theconnection information received by said receiving so as to enablejudgment as to whether or not the peripheral device regarding theperipheral device information is connected to the information processingdevice; and detecting a peripheral device that has not been activatedand a peripheral device that is not connected to the informationprocessing device by referencing the activation state and the peripheraldevice information.
 15. A peripheral device management method accordingto claim 12, further comprising: receiving an input of a specifieddate/time; and extracting a peripheral device that was connected to anyone of the information processing devices at the specified date/time byextracting, from the connection information accumulated by saidaccumulating, connection information with a date/time regarding theconnection being at or before the specified date/time and a date/timeregarding the disconnection being at or after the specified date/time orbeing unrecorded.
 16. A peripheral device management method according toclaim 12, wherein: said receiving, further receives an event log of anevent that has occurred on the information processing device, the eventlog being transmitted from the information processing device; saidaccumulating, further accumulates the event log in association with theinformation that may identify the information processing deviceregarding the event and the information that may identify the peripheraldevice regarding the event; and the peripheral device management methodfurther comprises: searching the event log accumulated by saidaccumulating by using information that may identify a predeterminedperipheral device, to thereby extract the event log regarding thepredetermined peripheral device.
 17. A peripheral device managementmethod according to claim 16, further comprising: estimating a cause foran occurrence of the event by judging, if said detecting has detectedthat the predetermined peripheral device has been moved by beingdisconnected from the one information processing device and beingconnected to the another information processing device, whether or notcontents of the event log regarding the predetermined peripheral devicewhich is extracted by said extracting are changed before and after themovement.
 18. A peripheral device management method according to claim11, wherein: said receiving, further receives software informationtransmitted from the information processing device, the softwareinformation including information on software installed on theperipheral device connected to the information processing device, andinformation on software related to the peripheral device, which isinstalled on the information processing device, and the peripheraldevice management method further comprises: retaining correlationinformation for judging a correlation between the software installed onthe information processing device and the software installed on theperipheral device; judging, by referencing the correlation informationbased on the software information received by said receiving, whether ornot the software installed on the information processing device and thesoftware installed on the peripheral device have a predeterminedcorrelation; and transmitting, if it is judged that the softwareinstalled on the information processing device and the softwareinstalled on the peripheral device do not have the predeterminedcorrelation, a software change request necessary to satisfy thepredetermined correlation to the information processing device.